Series D. Relief and Rescue Departments, 1939–1969
Series Description
Series D. Relief and Rescue Departments, contains files of WJC departments engaged in relief and rescue work. The series includes files from the Relief Department, Department of European Jewish Affairs, Rescue Department, and Relief and Rehabilitation Department. Files of the Secretary-General of the WJC are included among the files of the Rescue Department director, since Aryeh L. Kubowitzki fulfilled both positions. Although the series ranges in date from 1939 to 1969, the bulk of the material dates from 1940 to 1950.
Material relief activities of the WJC began in April 1940 with the establishment of the Relief Committee for Jewish War Victims (RELICO) in Geneva under the direction of Adolf H. Silberschein. The purpose of RELICO was to supply food and social aid to Jews in Europe, especially in Poland and France, and to help refugee groups — including those in Mauritius, Tangier, Rhodesia, and Tanganyika. RELICO continued in operation throughout the war years, even after the headquarters of the WJC was moved to New York. In July 1940 a separate relief department was established at the new office under Arieh Tartakower.
The Rescue Department was established in April 1944. Its primary functions were to document and publicize war crimes and atrocities; to devise rescue plans and enlist public and governmental support for action; to prevent deportation of some European Jewish communities; to liberate concentration camps from the Nazis; and to advocate punishment for war crimes. Aryeh L. Kubowitzki, head of the Department for European Jewish Affairs from 1941 to 1944, was named the first director of the Rescue Department, with Kurt R. Grossman as his assistant. In the spring of 1945, the Rescue Department was merged with the Relief Department under Arieh Tartakower and renamed the Relief and Rehabilitation Department. When Tartakower moved to Palestine in 1946, Kalman Stein became acting director of the expanded Relief Department. Stein was succeeded by Kurt R. Grossman in 1947. The Department was disbanded at the end of 1948 and its functions were assumed by the Relief Desk of the Political Department.
In the WJC collection, rescue materials were often found interfiled with general Relief Department files. Since the Rescue and Relief Departments were closely related in function and were merged in 1945, the materials of the two were combined into one series.
Series D. deals with political, material, and social relief and rescue activities, location of survivors, immigration and migration, refugees, displaced persons, extermination and reaction to Hitler's Final Solution, and relations with international relief organizations (including the UNRRA and Red Cross). Throughout the second world war, the relief and rescue departments at the New York office maintained contact with WJC relief and rescue workers in Europe, especially via WJC offices in London, Stockholm, Geneva, and Lisbon.
Spanning the years 1939–1969 and consisting of 116 Hollinger boxes, Series D. is divided into seven sub-series:
The first five sub-series contain files of the Relief (or Relief and Rehabilitation) Department from 1939–1969. Rescue Department files for the years 1939–1966 are located in sub-series 6 and 7.
Sub-series 1. Executive Files, 1939–1969, consists of 13 Hollinger boxes of correspondence of the Relief Department (and includes some material related to the Rescue Department) along with files of the Relief Committee, Arieh Tartakower, Kalman Stein, and Kurt R. Grossman. Also included are files from the Courses on Jewish Social Work, a training program for social workers planning to help displaced Jews in Europe that was sponsored by the WJC in 1945.
Sub-series 2. Immigration Division, 1940–1953, includes correspondence and reports of Ellen Hilb, Milka Fuchs, and Kurt R. Grossman. The majority of the material deals with applications and affidavits for individual immigration cases, especially for entry into the United States. This sub-series consists of 32 boxes of material.
Sub-series 3. contains 25 Hollinger boxes of the records of the Location Service, 1942–1960. The department began as the Refugee Relief Department or Division for Displaced Persons, which was established in October 1942 in New York by the WJC and American Jewish Congress. Later, it was renamed the Personal Inquiry Department (1944–1945), then, finally, the Location Service (1945–1947). Headed by Chaim Finkelstein, the purpose of the department was to trace Jewish survivors in Europe and help Jews in the United States and Europe reestablish contacts. The Location Division was transferred to the AJC Women's Division in February 1947 and discontinued in November of the same year. Activities of the department included compiling and publicizing lists of refugees and survivors and conducting a parcel service. The WJC also established search departments for displaced persons at their office in Geneva (1939) and London (March 1945 to 1955). The Location Service files include lists of survivors, known dead, and inmates of concentration and refugee camps. The sub-series also contains correspondence, reports, and other materials pertaining to displaced persons camps and survivors after the war.
Sub-series 4. Child Care Division, 1942–1953, consists of 12 Hollinger boxes of material. The Child Care Division was created in November 1945 to establish Jewish orphanages in Europe and to place orphans with foster parents or relatives. Directed by Ellen Hilb and Catherine Varchaver, the department's activities included projects to encourage American Jews to communicate with survivors in Europe and offer them material as well as moral support with letters and packages.
The Committee for Overseas Relief Supplies, 1945–1950, sub-series 5., consists of nine boxes. Established in June 1945 to ship clothing, food, and medicine to liberated Jews in Europe, the Committee was headed by Kurt R. Grossman and discontinued in June 1948.
Sub-series 6. Advisory Council on European Jewish Affairs, 1941–1947, contains 12 boxes of material. The Advisory Council on European Jewish Affairs was founded in 1942 to establish a united front of European Jewry with regard to common war, peace, and post-war problems. Council membership was composed of delegates from various Representative Committees of European Jewries then present in the United States. The Council's primary goals were: securing maximum aid in the various groups' struggle for democracy; the reestablishment of European Jewry's complete equality of rights as individuals and as citizens; to study the problems connected with the upbuilding of European Jewish life in their respective countries after the war; and collaborating with non-Jewish groups to promote mutual understanding and cooperation.
Sub-series 7. Rescue Department, 1939–1966, contains 13 boxes of Rescue Department records. Included are files of Aryeh L. Kubowitzki and Rudolf Glanz, together with inquiries and locations concerning missing Jews and records of rescue work in post-war Europe.
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NOTE: Sub-series 1 to 5 contain files of the RELIEF (or Relief and Rehabilitation) DEPARTMENT, 1939–1969. RESCUE DEPARTMENT files, 1939–1966, are located in sub-series 6 and 7.
Sub-series 1. Executive Files, 1939–1969
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World Jewish Congress, relief work, reports and drafts, 1939–1941 | 2 |
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World Jewish Congress, relief work, memos and reports, 1942–1943 | 3 |
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World Jewish Congress, relief work, reports and drafts, 1942 | 4 |
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Correspondence, memos and reports, 1942–1943 | 5 |
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Finkelstein, Chaim, reports on Refugee Relief Department (location service), 1943 | 6 |
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Minutes, 1940–1944 | 7 |
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Invitations to meetings, 1943–1945 | 8 |
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Press release re: refugees in Russia seeking relatives in United States, Sep 1943 | 9 |
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Budget and fundraising, 1941–1945 | 10 |
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Correspondence re: contributions, 1945–1947 | 11 |
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Cables and memos, 1944–1946 | 12 |
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Survey of community property in Poland, 1945 | 13 |
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Survey of governmental and municipal aid to Jews in Europe, correspondence and questionnaires, 1945–1946 | 14 |
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Tartakower, Arieh, draft speeches, reports, memoranda, 1943–1945 D2 | 1 |
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Clothing drive, 1943–1945 | 2 |
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Tartakower, Arieh, correspondence and memos, 1942–1946 | 3 |
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Contacts with volunteers, 1945 | 4 |
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Dwork, C. Irving, correspondence with Washington office, 1946–1947 | 5 |
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Negotiations re: food problem in invaded countries, 1941–1944 | 6 |
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Correspondence and memos, 1941–1947 | 7 |
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Stein, Kalman, memos, 1946–1947 | 8 |
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Memorandum on Jewish medical problems and reconstruction, 1944 | 9 |
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Tartakower, Arieh, reports on meetings with authorities, 1944–1945 | 10 |
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Tartakower, Arieh, reports, 1943–1945 | 11 |
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Tartakower, Arieh, reports on trips to Latin America, 1944–1946 | 12 |
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Tartakower, Arieh, trip to Great Britain, 1944 | 13 |
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Tartakower, Arieh, trip to Europe, Jul–Aug 1945 | 14 |
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Usiskin, Isadore, trip to Europe, 1945 | 15 |
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Tartakower, Arieh, memos, re: Poland, 1942–1943 D3 | 1 |
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Activity reports, 1940–1944 | 2 |
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Relief and Rehabilitation Department reports, 1944–1945 | 3 |
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Activity reports, no. 1–6, 1945–1946 | 4 |
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Draft activity reports, no. 3–4, 1945 | 5 |
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Activity reports, 1947 | 6 |
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Financial report on relief activities, 1940–1948, 1952 | 7 |
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“Rescue and Relief Activities, 1933–1945,” by Eppler, Elizabeth, 1969 | 8 |
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World Jewish Affairs Department of American Jewish Congress (Marcus, Robert S., and Petegorsky, David W.), 1946–1947 | 9 |
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United Service for New Americans, 1946–1950 | 10 |
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Va'ad ha-Hatzala, reports and releases, 1944–1945 | 11 |
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Organization for Rehabilitation through Training and American Council of Voluntary Agencies for Foreign Service, Committee on Displaced persons, minutes, 1944–1945 | 12 |
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War Refugee Board, 1944–1945 D4 | 1 |
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Publications of Hebrew Sheltering and Immigrant Aid Society and Hadassah relief, 1946–1949 | 2 |
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United States, Department of State, Office of Foreign Relief and Rehabilitation Operations, 1942–1943 | 3 |
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Intergovernmental Committee for Refugees, 1942–1944 | 4 |
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Intergovernmental Committee for Refugees, 1945 | 5 |
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Intergovernmental Committee for Refugees, 1945–1947 | 6 |
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International and American Red Cross, 1941–1947 | 7 |
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American Red Cross press releases, 1943–1946 | 8 |
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Red Cross International Tracing Service, Arolsen Archives and World Jewish Congress tracing office (London), 1953–1959 | 9 |
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United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, Tartakower, Arieh, reports re: refugees and statistics, 1942–1943 | 10 |
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United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, training of personnel, 1942–1945 | 11 |
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United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, Jul–Dec 1943 | 12 |
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United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, postwar relief, 1943–1945 | 13 |
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United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, reports and publications, 1943–1944 D5 | 1 |
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United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, reports and releases, 1943–1944 | 2 |
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United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, important correspondence received, 20 Nov 1943–2 Mar 1944 | 3 |
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United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, reports, correspondence, and memos, 1943–1945 | 4 |
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United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, private agencies, 1943–1944 | 5 |
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United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, 1943–1944 | 6 |
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United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, 1943–1944 | 7 |
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United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, relations with World Jewish Congress, 1944 | 8 |
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United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, correspondence, reports, and memos, 1944 | 9 |
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United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, drafts, reports, correspondence, 1944 | 10 |
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United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, Wahrhaftig, Zorach, pamphlet, 1944 | 11 |
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United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, correspondence and reports, 1944 | 12 |
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United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, Middle East Relief Administration, 1943–1944 | 13 |
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United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, correspondence re: second session, Montreal, and Tartakower, Arieh, trip to Canada, 1944 | 14 |
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United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, Wahrhaftig, Zorach, memo re: Jewish problems, 1944 D6 | 1 |
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United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, reports and memos, 1944–1945 | 2 |
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United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, job applications for positions overseas, 1944–1946 | 3 |
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United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, Grinberg, Sophie V., 1944–1945 | 4 |
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United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, 1945 | 5 |
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United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, Stein, Kalman, 1944–1945 | 6 |
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United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, correspondence with Weinfeld, Gisela, and Wolkowicz, Stephen D., re: displaced persons, 1945–1946 | 7 |
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United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, recognition of World Jewish Congress as operating agency in displaced persons camps, 1945–1947 | 8 |
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United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, 1946 | 9 |
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United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, reports, 1945 | 10 |
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United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, reports, 1946–1947 D7 | 1 |
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United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, World Jewish Congress activities after recognition, Jan–Jul 1947 | 2 |
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United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, World Jewish Congress activities after recognition, Aug–Dec 1947 | 3 |
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United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, correspondence with personnel, 1946–1947 | 4 |
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United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, Dwork, C. Irving, 1946 | 5 |
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United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, Kubowitzki, Aryeh L., trip to Europe, Jul–Sep 1946 | 6 |
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Immigration and travel visas for World Jewish Congress fundraisers, 1947–1948 | 7 |
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Draft survey of World Jewish Congress activities with International Relief Organization, 1949 | 8 |
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Activity report on Relief Desk and Political Department assignments, 1949 | 9 |
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Correspondence, 1947–1948 | 10 |
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Correspondence, 1949 | 11 |
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Correspondence, Dec 1948 D8 | 1 |
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Correspondence, Jan–Jun 1948 | 2 |
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Correspondence, Jul–Dec 1948 | 3 |
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Correspondence, 1949 | 4 |
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Correspondence, 1950 | 5 |
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“Chronological Stencils”, Dec 1947–Feb 1950 | 6 |
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Correspondence, Jan 1949 D9 | 1 |
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Correspondence, Feb 1949 | 2 |
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Correspondence, Mar–Apr 1949 | 3 |
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Correspondence, May–Jul 1949 | 4 |
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Correspondence, Aug–Sep 1949 | 5 |
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Correspondence, Oct–Dec 1949 | 6 |
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Correspondence, Jan–Mar 1950 | 7 |
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Correspondence, Apr–Jun 1950 | 8 |
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Correspondence, Jul–Dec 1950 D10 | 1 |
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Memos, correspondence, and reports, Nov–Dec 1949 | 2 |
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Memos, correspondence, and reports, Jan–Mar 1950 | 3 |
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Speaking engagements, 1948–1950 | 4 |
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Correspondence re: articles, 1948–1950 | 5 |
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Articles (includes clippings), 1943, 1948 | 6 |
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Articles (includes clippings), 1949 | 7 |
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Articles (includes clippings), 1950 | 8 |
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Grossman, Kurt R., trips to Washington, 1947–1950 | 9 |
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Grossman, Kurt R., trip to Germany, 1948 | 10 |
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Training of foreign exchange students, 1949–1950 D11 | 1 |
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United Jewish Appeal, 1943–1950 | 2 |
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Refugees and migration, 1941–1946 | 3 |
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Refugees, Church Committee on Overseas Relief/Reconstruction, 1945–1946 | 4 |
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Refugees, Institute on Overseas Studies of Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds, 1947–1948 | 5 |
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Refugees and displaced persons, Grossman, Kurt R., 1949 | 6 |
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International Social Jewish Workers conference, 1947–1948 | 7 |
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National Conference of Jewish Social Welfare, 1947–1950 | 8 |
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Activity reports and plans, 1948–1949 | 9 |
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Grossman, Kurt R., memos re: United Nations meetings, 1949–1950 | 10 |
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Advisory Council for Relief and Rehabilitation, 1944–1948 | 11 |
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Advisory Council for Relief and Rehabilitation, Subcommittee for Legal and Political Rehabilitation, 1944–1945 | 12 |
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Advisory Council for Relief and Rehabilitation, Subcommittee for Culture and Education, 1944–1945 | 13 |
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Advisory Council for Relief and Rehabilitation, Subcommittee for Health and Child Care, 1944–1945 | 14 |
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Advisory Council for Relief and Rehabilitation, Subcommittee for Displaced Persons, 1944–1945 D12 | 1 |
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Training courses for workers in Jewish children's homes in Europe, 1945 | 2 |
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Courses on Jewish Social Work, reports, notes, and correspondence, 1944–1945 | 3 |
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Courses on Jewish Social Work, course bulletins, 1944–1945 | 4 |
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Courses on Jewish Social Work documents, examinations, questionnaires and memos, 1945 | 5 |
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Courses on Jewish Social Work, applications for admission, 1945 | 6 |
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Courses on Jewish Social Work, budget, 1945 | 7 |
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Courses on Jewish Social Work, correspondence with lecturers, 1945 | 8 |
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Courses on Jewish Social Work, correspondence with lecturers, 1945 | 9 |
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Courses on Jewish Social Work, chronological correspondence, 1944–1945 | 10 |
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Courses on Jewish Social Work, attendance sheets, 1945 D13 | 1 |
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Recruitment of social workers/securing jobs with United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration for courses on Jewish social work graduates, 1944–1945 | 2 |
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Courses on Jewish Social Work students, list and correspondence, 1945 | 3 |
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Courses on Jewish Social Work prospects, 1945 | 4 |
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Bibliographies and outlines of Courses on Jewish Social Work, 1945 | 5 |
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Lectures for Courses on Jewish Social Work, 1945 | 6 |
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Courses on Jewish Social Work, Yiddish class, questionnaires, 1945 | 7 |
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Courses on Jewish Social Work, exams, course I (Klein, Philip), 20 Jun 1945 | 8 |
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Courses on Jewish Social Work, exams, course II (Aptekar, Herbert H.), 20 Jun 1945 | 9 |
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Courses on Jewish Social Work, exams, course III (Lestchinsky, Jacob), 20 Jun 1945 | 10 |
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Courses on Jewish Social Work, exams, course IV (Weiss, Abraham), 20 Jun 1945 | 11 |
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Courses on Jewish Social Work, exams, course V (Tartakower, Arieh), 20 Jun 1945 D14 | 1 |
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Courses on Jewish Social Work, exams, course VIII — H/a (Wischnitzer, Mark), 20 Jun 1945 | 2 |
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Courses on Jewish Social Work, exams, course VIII — H/b (Warhaftig, Zorach), 20 Jun 1945 | 3 |
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Courses on Jewish Social Work, students' reports on Tartakower, Arieh, lecture, Mar 1945 |
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